Reminiscing... Wouldn't mind getting back into UO, quick question.

I should also add you can improve your gain rates by actually going out into the IPY world and adventuring, as monsters drop "skill scrolls" that give you an instant boost of 0.1 to 0.3 to your recently used skills.

More information on skill gains can be found at http://inporylem.com/codex/index.php?title=Skill_Gain.

There is a "skill fatigue" system wherein your skill gains beyond 60 slowly fatigue your gain for that skill. When you've gained enough for that skill to become "exhausted," gains are almost impossible. It resets to a fully rested state 23 hours after you started working on the skill.

From 60-70, you can gain like 6 or 7 per day.

From 70-80, you can gain somewhere between 3.5 and 4.

From 80 to 90, you can gain 2.0 per day.

From 90 to 98, you can gain 1.0 per day.

From 98 to 100, you can gain 0.5 per day.

As you can see, if you train to exhausted every day, it takes 2 days to do 60-70, 3 days to do 70-80, 5 days to do 80-90, 8 days to do 90-98, and 4 days to do 98-100. That's a total of 22 days to hit GM, minimum.

Keep in mind, this is just the amount before you reach exhausted. It's theoretically possible to continue gaining skill when exhausted, but it's very slow. It may be worth it for skills you can macro for free (e.g., hiding, fishing, etc.

Also, each skill is treated separately. Fatigue in one skill has no effect on the state of your other skills. So theoretically, you could 7x GM in 22 days.

AFK macroing is allowed with the exception of resource-gathering (lumber, ore, etc.). However, AFK fishing IS allowed, so long as it isn't deep sea fishing. Macroing skillgain in dungeons is illegal, because skill gain in dungeons is doubled to encourage active playing.

IPY uses a Rate over Time system which caps how long it takes to GM any skill. Most skills take around 30 days to GM, but that isn't to say you can't have a playable character up and running before that. 7x GMs are rare as a result, but a few months of character development should see you get there.

And yes, AFK macroing is allowed.